http://phys.org/space-news/environment/ en-us Phys.org Phys.Org provides the latest news on the environment, environmental issues, earth science and space exploration. Manoa (UHM) School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) developed species distribution models of the six dominant Hawaiian coral species around the main Hawaiian Islands including two species currently under consideration as threatened or endangered. They found the order of coral abundance (from highest to lowest) around the main Hawaiian Islands to be Porites lobata, Montipora patula, Pocillopora meandrina, Montipora capitata, Porites compressa, and Montipora flabellata. http://phys.org/news288354031.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-21T11:20:37-07:00 Three dozen Malaysian NGOs on Tuesday denounced the world hydroelectric industry's decision to hold a conference in a Borneo state where dam projects have uprooted forests and native peoples. http://phys.org/news288347317.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-21T10:00:01-07:00 As recreational boaters gear up for a summer of fun on coastal waters and the Great Lakes, NOAA is testing MyNOAACharts, a new mobile application that allows users to download NOAA nautical charts and editions of the U.S. Coast Pilot. The app, which is only designed for Android tablets for the testing period, will be released on May 20. http://phys.org/news288346946.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-21T09:50:02-07:00 In two critical reports released at the Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in Kiruna, Sweden on May 15th, the scientific expertise of the Wildlife Conservation Society helped inform an international body of senior government officials about changing conditions in the Arctic, and potential responses to those changes. http://phys.org/news288347016.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-21T09:23:44-07:00 The vast majority of some 22,000 swimming beaches in the EU are clean and safe, the European Environment Agency said Tuesday. http://phys.org/news288346805.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-21T09:20:12-07:00 (Phys.org) —What to do with Marcellus shale wastewater is one of the biggest concerns in Pennsylvania, and few published studies have evaluated such wastewater effects on regional waters, according to a review co-authored by professors at the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State. http://phys.org/news288335032.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-21T07:10:01-07:00 Shipwrecks lying deep off America's coasts are more often historical artifacts than present-day threats from leaking old oil tanks, a new federal report says. http://phys.org/news288284863.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-20T16:07:51-07:00 In the United States, rivers and their floodplains are well-documented and monitored. Ecuador's largest river, however, remains largely mysterious. Research led by Michigan State University is helping the South American country unravel the Napo River's mystique to better balance its economic and environmental treasures. http://phys.org/news288282338.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-20T15:25:45-07:00 Hong Kong on Monday launched a ten-year plan to reduce waste by 40 percent per person as part of efforts to catch up with other leading Asian cities and avert a looming environmental crisis. http://phys.org/news288282201.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-20T15:23:45-07:00 Fierce competition for water could trigger conflict unless nations cooperate to share the diminishing resource, leaders from Asia-Pacific nations warned on Monday. http://phys.org/news288267499.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-20T12:00:01-07:00 Researchers from the University of Exeter are working with Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) on a ground-breaking study with 20 households in Great Britain and France to observe at-home recycling behaviors. http://phys.org/news288261724.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-20T10:00:01-07:00 Australian farmers want excess water from large floods to be 'banked' in aquifers, for use in dry times. http://phys.org/news288252094.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-20T07:05:29-07:00 An Australian led-project to turn 1.4 million tonnes of Chinese pig poo into alternative energy and fertiliser has been hailed in a national science award. http://phys.org/news288250077.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-20T06:28:04-07:00 The world hydroelectric industry's decision to meet in a Malaysian state where dams have uprooted rainforests and native peoples is drawing bitter fire from environmental and tribal groups. http://phys.org/news288248253.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-20T05:57:42-07:00 Asia's flood-prone megacities should fund major drainage, water recycling and waste reduction projects to stem deluges and secure clean supply for their booming populations, experts said Sunday. http://phys.org/news288192619.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-19T14:40:01-07:00 Residents of Manhattan will not just sweat harder from rising temperatures in the future, says a new study; many may die. Researchers say deaths linked to warming climate may rise some 20 percent by the 2020s, and, in some worst-case scenarios, 90 percent or more by the 2080s. Higher winter temperatures may partially offset heat-related deaths by cutting cold-related mortality—but even so, annual net temperature-related deaths might go up a third. The study, published this week in the journal Nature Climate Change, was done by a team at Columbia University's Earth Institute and the Mailman School of Public Health. http://phys.org/news288172176.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-19T13:10:13-07:00 A global warming "pause" over the past decade may invalidate the harshest climate change predictions for the next 50 to 100 years, a study said Sunday—though levels remain in the danger zone. http://phys.org/news288187797.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-19T13:10:09-07:00 China will not pay for CO2 emissions by its airlines on flights within Europe, a top civil aviation official reportedly said after the European Commission warned eight Chinese firms face fines for nonpayment. http://phys.org/news288173142.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-19T10:10:01-07:00 Eight Chinese and two Indian airlines face fines of up to several million euros for not paying for their greenhouse gas emissions during flights within the bloc, the European Commission said on Friday. http://phys.org/news288060949.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-18T01:56:03-07:00 Most of us know we should live in a more environmentally sustainable way. But it does not happen because we do not really feel involved http://phys.org/news288003349.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-17T10:10:03-07:00 A Florida State University researcher working as part of the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) investigated the effects of dispersants on the movement of crude oil through water-saturated marine sand and found that dispersants potentially facilitate penetration of oil components into the seabed, where oxygen concentrations may affect the degradation of the oil. http://phys.org/news288000089.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-17T09:01:41-07:00 A study led by researcher Lisa Kellogg of William & Mary's Virginia Institute of Marine Science shows that a restored oyster reef can remove up to 10 times more nitrogen from Chesapeake Bay waters than an unrestored area nearby, providing additional evidence that reef-restoration can contribute to efforts to improve water quality in the nation's largest estuary. http://phys.org/news287997400.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-17T08:16:52-07:00 (Phys.org) —Extraction of "unconventional" gas from sedimentary rocks such as shale could provide a clean energy source and help some regions to become energy independent, but concerns have been raised about risks such as the contamination of ground water. The current knowledge of these risks has now been assessed in a review published in Science this week. http://phys.org/news287982631.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-17T04:50:05-07:00 (AP)—Surrounded by a turquoise sea and a menagerie of exotic animals on a billionaire's private island, political and business leaders gathered Friday to back an initiative aimed at expanding protection for the Caribbean's imperiled coasts and waters. http://phys.org/news287983706.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-17T04:28:36-07:00 EU greenhouse gas emissions, blamed for global warming, dropped slightly last year but the much-vaunted system for cutting such pollution ran into even more trouble, the European Commission said on Thursday. http://phys.org/news287939414.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-16T16:20:01-07:00 When UC Santa Barbara doctoral student Seeta Sistla and her adviser, environmental studies professor Josh Schimel, went north not long ago to study how long-term warming in the Arctic affects carbon storage, they had made certain assumptions. http://phys.org/news287935211.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-16T15:00:18-07:00 Shipping pollution along major trade lanes can rival carbon emissions in contributing to the increased acidity of the ocean, according to a new study by an international team, including researchers from the University of Gothenburg, Chalmers University of Technology, the University of Delaware and the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies. http://phys.org/news287911791.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-16T08:40:03-07:00 Conventional methods of agriculture and cattle-breeding cannot feed the world population. They are not sustainable, pollute the environment, are responsible for reducing biodiversity and have a damaging effect on human health. In order to guarantee food security for nine million people in 2050, there is a pressing need to intensify agricultural production. However, this will have to be done in an ecologically responsible manner, making intensive and smart use of natural ecosystem functions. Professor Pablo Tittonell shall assert this view on 16 May upon accepting the post of Professor of Farming Systems Ecology at Wageningen University, part of Wageningen UR. http://phys.org/news287911482.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-16T08:24:50-07:00 The tattoos on Ashley Cryan's ankles depict a chicken and a pig. Since the days of Captain Cook, sailors have donned the animals' likenesses to help them walk on water and guard against drowning. According to folklore, the animals—which survived shipwrecks more often than humans—had a special power that protected them from succumbing to the sea. http://phys.org/news287908508.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-16T07:35:15-07:00 Australia said it was pushing for a ban Thursday of any commercial use of a pioneering technique to reduce the impacts of climate change by "fertilising" the world's oceans with iron, warning of significant risks. http://phys.org/news287893607.html Space & Earth - Environment 2013-05-16T03:26:55-07:00